Standing In the Rain

Three years ago I preached my first sermon in Vauxhall as the pastor of this local flock. The text was Isaiah 55.

^{10 } “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

^ giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

I must continually remind myself of the promise of this wonderful text. The temptation is to seek life from so many other sources.

God's Word brings life because it points us to the Author of Life and it flows from the source of Life. His word brought life in the Beginning (Genesis 1). It brings life to the bones in the valley (Ezekiel 37). It is the key to real life for the righteous man of Psalm 1. It is the life proclaimed in John 1. And therefore, much like the early apostles the focus of my ministry must be the Word of God, after all, when we stand in the rain the wheat will come to life and the flowers will blossom. In a similar way, churches will come to life where God's Word is proclaimed with passion. People will be transformed when they submit to the Divine Word. My prayer is that we will experience such life in Vauxhall. May the Lord help us to persevere.